1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a apparatus and method for providing a fail-safe in a head lamp apparatus, and more particularly, to a apparatus and method for providing a fail-safe in a head lamp apparatus, which includes a fail-safe function in a case where failure occurs to a head lamp with multiple beam patterns.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, an automotive vehicle is required to include various illumination functions of providing a driver with a better visual field in the driving direction during nighttime driving or light devices designed for the driver to notify other drivers or road users of the driver's driving state. A head lamp, generally known as a front lighting system, is a lamp illuminating a forward path of a vehicle, which requires luminous intensity such that obstacles located 100 m ahead of the road can be recognized. Each country has different standards of the head lamp from each other. In particular, the head lamp beam has a different irradiation direction according to whether traffic keeps to the right or to the left. The head lamp is designed such that the beam of a vehicle of an LHD (Left Hand Drive) is irradiated further to the right side of the traveling direction of the vehicle, with respect to the center line of the road, the beam of a vehicle of RHD (Right Hand Drive) is irradiated further to the left side.
A vehicle head lamp in the related art provides a driver with a fixed illumination pattern regardless of the various conditions of the road. Therefore, a driver cannot have an appropriate view for a safe driving, during high speed driving when a longer distance view should be ensured, and during driving in the downtown area where dependency on the amount of light of the head lamp decreases due to the surrounding illumination being relatively bright, during driving in the heavy rain where glare on the opposite side increases due to reflected light from rain, snow or a wet road and the view becomes narrow.
An adaptive front lighting system (AFLS) has been developed to improve the visibility of the road ahead for a driver and avoid glare for drivers who are driving in the opposite direction. The AFLS changes the width and length of headlight beams according to driving conditions, road conditions, and ambient conditions. For example, the AFLS may provide separate lighting during low-speed cornering. The AFLS may also adjust the luminous intensity of a head lamp to reduce the glare for drivers who are driving on the opposite side.
However, in the event of any fail or malfunction, the AFLS cannot provide driver's visibility of the road ahead while causing glare to the eyes of drivers on the opposite side. Thus, to overcome the problems, there is a need for a device and system designed to prevent glare applied to a driver and drivers driving in the opposite direction in the event of failure or malfunction of a head lamp system.